Russia-Wendel,Wetzstein

Abby Wendel, Acacia Wetzstein Block 4 = The Great Russia = == The land
 * Russia is the largest country in the world
 * Almost twice the size of the U.S.
 * Much of Russia is plains
 * Deepest fresh water lake
 * A large frozen tundra dominates the north
 * Ural mountains divide Russia’s European side from the Asian side
 * Four of the largest rivers are located in Russia



Climate and vegetation Population and Culture History and Government
 * Climate varies by region
 * Siberia is mostly taiga
 * Tundra is to the north
 * Steppe climate to the south
 * Winters last November to March [[image:worldgeography9/Russia- ace 6.jpg width="423" height="222"]][[image:Russia- ace 7.jpg width="508" height="224" align="right"]]
 * Over 142 million people live in Russia
 * Moscow has a population of 10 million
 * Moscow is the largest city in Russia
 * Russian orthodox church is what most Russians are
 * Russian orthodox claims 15-20% of most Russians
 * Russian is their official language
 * Cyrillic alphabet has 33 letters [[image:worldgeography9/Russia- ace 12.jpg width="511" height="229"]][[image:Russia- ace 10.jpg width="480" height="374"]]
 * Slavic settled in Eastern Europe early Christian era[[image:worldgeography9/Russia- ace 15.jpg width="495" height="189" align="right"]]
 * Slavs ruled for 240 years
 * 1814 Russia defeated France’s Napoleon
 * Expansion in soviet influencing the developing world
 * 1922,Bolsheviks formed union of soviet socialists



Economy Global issues
 * Natural resources give great potential for economic growth
 * Oil, natural gas, coal, diamonds, and precious metals are sufficient
 * 2008 falling oil prices and global financial crisis hit Russia hard[[image:worldgeography9/Russia- ace 17.jpg width="419" height="238" align="right"]]
 * 2009 outburst of droughts and fires reduced agricultural output
 * Recovery began in late 2009
 * Economy was boosted up again in 2011 by rising oil prices
 * Currency is rubel
 * Most people use public transportation
 * Boost of crude oil prices lasted through 2008[[image:worldgeography9/Russia- ace 19.jpg width="424" height="93" align="right"]]
 * Financial institutions lowered credit ratings
 * Russian markets were worsened by countries outdated capital market[[image:worldgeography9/Russia- ace 20.jpg width="192" height="129" align="right"]]
 * Russian stock market is down 70%
 * Russia is sharply declining export earnings from energy in metals [[image:worldgeography9/Russia- ace 21.jpg width="404" height="244" align="right"]]